Allen Iverson sure would be proud of the Central Michigan University men's basketball team because the Chippewas are all about practice.
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The much-maligned Philadelphia 76ers guard once got into a heated debate with Larry Brown about practice - or lack there of.
This Chippewa team has been just the opposite.
"We've had good practices," CMU head coach Jay Smith said of his team. "Obviously, we have to show that on the floor though. We have to take what we do in practice and put it on the court during a game."
Today would be a good time to start doing that as the Chippewas step into Mid-American Conference play for one game against Miami University at 2 p.m.
Smith, and the Chippewas (1-3), have not had much success against the RedHawks.
Miami has won 20 of the last 21 meetings and nine straight against CMU. The RedHawks are the only MAC team Smith hasn't beaten in his eight seasons at CMU.
"It's not about Jay Smith versus Miami," Smith said. "For whatever reason we just haven't beaten them yet. Right now, I'm just focused on getting a young team ready to compete each and every game."
And the Chippewas have competed on the defensive end.
The bad news is that the ball still has to go through the hoop on the offensive end.
CMU is struggling on the offensive end with just 58.8 points per game and is shooting just 39 percent from the field as a team.
"Our problem is that we just can't make any shots," Smith said. "Against Cleveland State, we had 12 straight trips where they didn't score, but neither did we. I'll tell you this, it's not for lack of effort - we just keep on practicing and at some point the shots are going to fall."
The good news for CMU is that Miami isn't exactly an offensive juggernaut. The RedHawks (2-1) are averaging just 56.7 points per game and shooting 43 percent from the field. However, Miami is doing a great job on the defensive end of the floor as it is allowing just 50.7 points per game.
Junior Sefton Barrett leads the Chippewas in scoring with 16.3 points per game and he is also pulling in 5.5 rebounds.
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The much-maligned Philadelphia 76ers guard once got into a heated debate with Larry Brown about practice - or lack there of.
This Chippewa team has been just the opposite.
"We've had good practices," CMU head coach Jay Smith said of his team. "Obviously, we have to show that on the floor though. We have to take what we do in practice and put it on the court during a game."
Today would be a good time to start doing that as the Chippewas step into Mid-American Conference play for one game against Miami University at 2 p.m.
Smith, and the Chippewas (1-3), have not had much success against the RedHawks.
Miami has won 20 of the last 21 meetings and nine straight against CMU. The RedHawks are the only MAC team Smith hasn't beaten in his eight seasons at CMU.
"It's not about Jay Smith versus Miami," Smith said. "For whatever reason we just haven't beaten them yet. Right now, I'm just focused on getting a young team ready to compete each and every game."
And the Chippewas have competed on the defensive end.
The bad news is that the ball still has to go through the hoop on the offensive end.
CMU is struggling on the offensive end with just 58.8 points per game and is shooting just 39 percent from the field as a team.
"Our problem is that we just can't make any shots," Smith said. "Against Cleveland State, we had 12 straight trips where they didn't score, but neither did we. I'll tell you this, it's not for lack of effort - we just keep on practicing and at some point the shots are going to fall."
The good news for CMU is that Miami isn't exactly an offensive juggernaut. The RedHawks (2-1) are averaging just 56.7 points per game and shooting 43 percent from the field. However, Miami is doing a great job on the defensive end of the floor as it is allowing just 50.7 points per game.
Junior Sefton Barrett leads the Chippewas in scoring with 16.3 points per game and he is also pulling in 5.5 rebounds.
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